SEATTLE -- Bungie Studios, the Halo video game developer acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2000, is once again operating as an independent company, Microsoft said yesterday. The tech giant will maintain close ties with privately held Bungie LLC and own a minority stake in it, the companies said.
Further details were not disclosed. "Working with Microsoft was great for us. It allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on," said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner, in a statement.
"But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive," he said. "We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins.
Or manatees." Matt Rosoff, an analyst for the independent research group Directions on Microsoft, said he thinks Bungie probably wanted more control over the games it makes and didn't want "to answer to Microsoft for everything." Bungie will continue to develop games exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Windows PC platforms "for the foreseeable future," said Harold Ryan, Bungie's president and studio head.
The two companies said they will also continue to work together to support the Halo franchise. Gamers have plunked down more than $300 million for Halo 3 since its release less than two weeks ago. Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said yesterday that the company has no plans to spin off any of its other game studios.
Bungie's approximately 113 employees will remain in Kirkland.
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